There always seems to be some level of hesitation on the part of some who are curious about Trucking.

Those are typically referred to as "non traditional truckers"...

In the distant past - truckers usually fit a mold or stereotype.

But in the past 10 years a new group of drivers have emerged - the Non traditionals...


no we do not wear flannel shirts and chew tobacco... No we do not necessarily like country music and CB talk.... NO we do not do drugs to stay awake for days on end...

we just do our jobs - and have found some sort of shelter within the walls of this industry...


Most of us who are classified as non traditional come from other industries - either laid off/outsourced/downsized or just unfortunate enough to have been part of a dying industry.

Trucking offers a lot of different things to many different types of people - and no longer are the rank and file - able to fit into one mold.

Retired - Gay - Foreign - Couples - Slight of build - Heavy Set - ex Military - divorced - Married - Single - short - Tall - smart - dim - weak - strong - whatever
WHATEVER you are - there is a job for you in this industry...

maybe you want to see the country every night - maybe you want to see your own bedroom every night - WHATEVER...


I hope that those of you who read this find some motivation to take the leap and get involved.

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TEAMSTERS LOCAL 100


Faster than a 60 MPH bullet....

Latanea,

Great post! I have considered driving professionally during every career change that I have made in my life. Timing was just not right for me until now.

My hope is that my varied experiences will make me a stronger truck driver. I would say that the strongest quality I bring is my ability to to deal with people from all walks of life, and in stressful situations.

• I've tactfully advised passengers that their holiday flight to Paris is cancelled and that we may not be able to get all accommodated until 3 days from their original departure (10 years major airline ops/customer service management)
• Notified families that the shiny new mini-van purchase expectation needs to be scaled back to that beautiful ,turqouise, gently used 1991 Taurus GL wagon (3 years auto sales.management)
• Trained, managed and motivated cubical dwellers in an insurance product factory (3 years insurance operations management, ick!)
• Delivered the front door keys to over 200 home owners from first time buyers to 2nd and 3rd vacation home purchasers (6years as a real estate agent/broker)

I am hoping that the biggest satisfaction I will receive from this new lifestyle, is to satisfy my wanderlust!

In addition, I hope to not kill this business (as all my former businesses are now just a shell of what they used to be!).

The flannels will be reserved for severe winter weather, and I will not have a wallet chain as I do not have enough meat on my a@# to sit for hours on end atop my wallet!

CaptK

The "nontraditionals" are what make this industry great. You never know who you'll meet out here.

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Cowboy up!

I think that the non traditionals bring a different perspective to the industry. They can see things from a different angle. YEA!

Below is a copy from another post involving those wonderful "non-traditional" drivers that make trucking great.

QUOTE:
"I am a mechanic and did a clutch a few weeks ago on a freightshaker and the driver had rigged a funnel going through his shifter boot and was peeing all over the tranny...Now thats just nasty...not to mention it smelled like piss all night long while i was doing the job...Please don't do that.....we hate that...and don't stand over the truck while we are working on it and burp your colostime bag...it really smells like poop!!!!! Also if you Yank off in your truck...do your bussiness on a towel or anything except the floor or seats...Another thing...QUIT WIPING YOUR BOOGERS ON THE DRIVERS SEAT!!!!! I had to repair a seat this summer and the driver likes to wipe his boogers on the side of the seat....Come on!!!!!"

Stranger,

Yep....read that one. Dang disgusting at best and certainly sub-human. Can you imagine if that was an experience with just one truck!

Take care,
K

I have to say that the post doesn't indicate whether these atrocities were performed by "non traditional" drivers. Stranger, can you provide some more background to support your post?

While I cannot provide scientific evidence to support my claim of this being a "non-traditional" driver, I can say that I started driving in 1975, and have never heard of anything like this happening until the last 15 years or so.

There were always a very few people who had nasty trucks and habits, but it was the exception. Not so today. Go to your local big truck stop, stand near the fuel island, and look into peoples truck as they get out to fuel.

You really don't have to do that. Just look at all the junk piled on the dash of many trucks to the point the dash looks like a trash can.

You can't go by the age of a driver now, as many drivers are getting into this business in their 40s and 50s. It is their lack of common human cleanliness and decency that is the problem.

I noticed the trend toward nasty "non-traditional" drivers many years ago when I was in Texas getting a wheel seal installed at a major truck stop. I watched as driver after driver got out of trucks that the floorboard was barely visible, and the dash trashed.

These drivers were nasty also, very badly dressed, and in need of a bath.

If you have any more doubt, read the horror stories about nasty trainers that are repeated on this board constantly. You won't have to look hard for these stories.

Yes, we old timers had our faults. We ran 24-48 hours straight, we kept more that one log book, and we would speed (you had to in the 55 MPH days). One thing we had pretty much in common though, we dressed neat, we kept our trucks clean inside and out, we didn't crap in our trucks, or cut holes in the floor so we could.

If we saw another truck or a car broke down we would stop to help. I have had drivers stop and take me to the nearest truck stop for parts, and not leave until I had a return ride. I had one driver bring me home almost 300 miles when my truck blew an engine, and he delivered me to my front door . I have brought drivers home after their trucks broke down. I brought one driver across three states to my terminal, and used my car to take him to his front door. This was because a car hit his truck and made the truck unusable. This was not something unusual, we did things like this for each other.

The regular motoring public looked at truck drivers as the kings of the road. Someone to depend on in case of an emergency. Someone to be looked up to. Now if a truck driver stops (fat chance) to help a car, or truck, the occupants fear for their lives.

When CBs were in the first few years of use, we would admonish a driver for using bad language over the air. Now you can't even turn a radio on because of cussing and threating language.

Yep, these "non-traditional" drivers have really changed this industry all right.

Stranger,

This profession definitely draws folks from all walks of life...good and baaaad too evidently.

The only preconceived notion I had of drivers from the old days was that of very large arms due to the lack of power steering and maybe a strong love of George Jones, Tammy Wynette and such. Heck, I love that music too in moderation (along with a strong dose of Blue Grass!)

The good samaritan stuff is risky nowadays (and has been for some time ) no matter how many wheels you are turning. It's a real shame that all of us have to be that "on guard" nowadays.

Take it easy,
CaptK

I guess I fall into the non traditional category. I got into trucking a year ago at the age of 39 after doing many other things. I don't wear cowboy boots or chew tobacco.

I drive a company truck but it is spotless. There is nothing on my dash, the floor is clean and the only thing on it is my laptop bag. I shave daily and shower regularly. My clothers are always clean.

The complaints about the non traditional driver are more reflective of society as a whole I think. People take pride in themselves or they don't, regardless of what they do for a living.

One thing that really bugs me though is when I hear a couple of old timers on the CB going on about how good things used to be, how drivers looked out for each other, were respectful etc. and then one of them will always come out with a comment about how it's all the fault of the (insert race). Yep, when it was just the good ol' white boys everyone was respectful...

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I am not young enough to know everything.